THE CHALLENGE OF OUR PAST: STUDIES IN ORTHODOX CANON LAW AND CHURCH HISTORY

The Church is not a static object. It lives in time, in history. This means
that its past is not just a matter of fact. It also poses a challenge. Christians
are obliged to take seriously the problem of historical change. They must reflect
on what gives the Church its identity in time and space, even in the midst of
change.

In this collection of essays, John Erickson investigates the ways in which
concepts and issues relating to the Church`s life have developed in the past
and continue to challenge us in the present. Some take as their point of departure
certain words ? canon, priest, heretic?
whose meaning and resonance have quietly but significantly shifted over the
centuries. Others explore changes in words and images use to express mysteries
like forgiveness and reconciliation, or to describe the Church`s structures
for unity and community. Still others examine in historical perspective the
issues dividing Christians of East and West; they discuss not only the ways
by which the Church`s unity and continuity have been perceived and expressed
over the centuries, but also the problems of disunity and discontinuity.

Underlying all these essays is the conviction that the Church cannot be adequately
understood without reference to Tradition. But as Erickson shows, discerning
this Tradition and its significance for the Church today is not an easy task.
Tradition, he asserts, is not just another word for church history. It is not
a neat collection of precedents from the past which can provide the answer to
every contemporary problem. Rather, Tradition reveals the Spirit at work
in both past and thereby to respond to the challenge of the present.